Mumbai, March 1 (IANS): Globally-acclaimed Mumbai scientist Pradeep V. Mahajan’s pioneering work in regenerative medicine and stem-cells has earned him this year’s coveted ‘Maharashtra Bhushan Award’, officials said.
The Founder-Chairman of StemRX Bioscience Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and Chairman-cum-Managing Director of StemRX Hospital & Research Centre in Navi Mumbai, Mahajan is credited with several ground-breaking clinical successes and intellectual contributions that have earned him national and international accolades.
He shot to limelight for his contributions to tackling the Covid-19 crisis in India, treatment of the world’s youngest case of cerebral palsy, and the first instance of an empty nose syndrome in the country, which have pushed forward the boundaries of modern medical science.
Mahajan, 64, developed a unique stem-cell/platelet-based remedy to kill the Coronavirus “naturally, with anti-inflammatory bodies”, which reduced the need for hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients by nearly 75 per cent, lessening the load on the public health sector.
“We found that the lungs are the prime target of Covid-19, causing maximum morbidity, highest stay in/on ICU/ventilators and even deaths. Post-treatment, the patient needed oxygen for months as the lungs developed fibrosis,” Mahajan told IANS.
However, most medicines or vaccines failed to work as they targeted the ‘virus, and not its environment’, and to survive, it kept mutating as pharma companies fumbled for newer remedies, he said.
Mahajan’s protocol was simple - to tackle and strengthen the environment which would kill the Coronavirus naturally – which was first highlighted by IANS (May 10, 2021).
“For this, we acquired blood platelets - considered the first line defence of the lungs, followed by white blood corpuscles and platelets for the next stage of the healing process. Then, we took the platelets from regular blood banks or donors, they were lysed, (to remove its walls to extract the granules), converted into a powder and administered as a mixture through a nebuliser or a rotahaler directly into the lungs - similar to any asthma patients," Mahajan explained.
These pumps (nebuliser-rotahaler) are easily available for Rs 250-1,500 apiece, while the stem-cell concoction used in them is prepared in a special lab machine.
The treatment proved very cost-effective. The patients could also be treated at home during quarantine through their mobile medical teams.
Gradually, Mahajan started producing the special concoction in 3,000 vials per day, which catered to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and other cities.
The stem-cell therapy/lyophilised platelet nebulisation worked complementary to other treatment protocols for mass benefits, he said.
Mahajan is also providing medical assistance through stem-cell therapy to lakhs of soldiers in Kurdistan, wounded during the nine-year long Iraq War, including over 20,000 with permanent war-induced disabilities who are now gradually recovering to lead near-normal lives.
He is also helping build hospitals in Mauritius and Africa, besides delivering lectures in several universities around the world.
Besides Mahajan, the other ‘Maharashtra Bhushan Award’ winners this year are -- Vijaykumar Yadav, Dharmaveer Bharti, Rana Suryawanshi and Rahul Papal.